


Jimo Ai, Third Wheel Life

by TheRev28



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hanamaru and Ruby only appear briefly, Pre-Relationship, Third Wheels, implied ChikaRiko - Freeform, implied rubymaru, super light angst if you look closely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27476596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRev28/pseuds/TheRev28
Summary: Yō manages to save Yoshiko from an awkward situation, and they spend the afternoon together. Both are surprised to discover they have more in common than they thought.
Relationships: Tsushima Yoshiko/Watanabe You
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	Jimo Ai, Third Wheel Life

Yō idly walked through the hallways of Uranohoshi, wondering how to spend her afternoon. Aqours didn’t have practice because Dia and Mari had some important school related things to do. Chika and Riko had invited her to hangout, but she hadn’t really been in the mood. At the moment, though, as she wandered around aimlessly, she started to wish she’d accepted their offer. She didn’t feel like being alone.

Around the corner up ahead, Yō heard a few familiar voices.

“Ruby and I were going to go to the cafe, zura,” Hanamaru said. “Do you want to come with us, Yoshiko?” 

“Oh! Well, I, um,” Yoshiko trailed off. Yō recognized that tone of voice. She hurried up and rounded the corner. The scene before her was about what she expected. Yoshiko, Ruby, and Hanamaru stood in the middle of the hallway, and Yoshiko faced towards Yō. She could see the slightly uncomfortable expression on the other girl’s face, and Yō made up her mind.

“There you are, Yoshiko!” she said, waving and getting everyone’s attention. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Are you ready to head out?”

Thankfully, Ruby and Hanamaru had already turned around to face Yō, meaning they couldn’t see Yoshiko’s baffled expression. That would have given her away pretty quickly.

“Oh did you two already have plans?” Ruby asked, looking back and forth between Yō and Yoshiko. 

“Y-yeah,” Yoshiko said, and Yō was so glad she was playing along. “We, uh, we—”

“Yoshiko was gonna help me look for outfit inspiration!” Yō said, making up something on the spot.

“How exciting, zura!” Hanamaru said, doing a cute little clap. “You two have fun, we can hang out some other time, Yoshiko.”

Ruby and Hanamaru waved at Yō and Yoshiko and walked away. Once they were out of sight, Yoshiko leaned in closer, her expression very bewildered.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the help, but what was all that about?” she whispered, unsure if Ruby and Hanamaru were still in earshot.

“I overheard the three of you, and it sounded like you weren’t thrilled about being a third wheel,” Yō said. “I figured I’d give you an out. We don’t actually have to hang out together, but we can if you want! I was just gonna wander around Numazu for a bit.”

A number of expressions crossed Yoshiko’s face very quickly, but she eventually settled on her Yohane demeanor. “Kukuku, well I suppose the great Yohane could grace you with the pleasure of her company.”

Yō smiled. “Wouldn’t it be cursing me with your company? Since you’re a fallen angel and all.” Yoshiko sputtered a little bit, drawing a laugh from Yō. “C’mon, full steam ahead! Yoshiko!” Yō grabbed Yoshiko’s hand and started pulling her along. 

“It’s Yohane!” Yoshiko said, but she didn’t put up any resistance.

The two left the school and hopped on the bus to Numazu. They sat together in the back but didn’t really talk much. This was a common enough occurrence for them, considering they were the only two members of Aqours who actually lived in Numazu, but this was the first time they wouldn’t immediately split up to head to their respective homes. As Yō thought about it, she realized this would be the first time just the two of them had hung out. Hopefully she could be a good senpai and show Yoshiko a fun time. Which meant she should probably try to figure out what they’d actually do in Numazu.

“Say, Yoshiko, there’s actually something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Yō said. Yoshiko’s head jerked up from looking at her phone.

“W-what?” she asked, looking slightly panicked. Yō mentally slapped herself for phrasing it that way and putting Yoshiko on the defensive.

“Nothing bad, I promise! I just wanted to know where you got your fallen angel costume. I’ve never seen anything like it in the costume shops around town.”

“Oh, well, um…,” As she trailed off, Yō clearly saw the mental shift into fallen angel mode. “The great Yohane crafted her hellish vestments herself! No simple earthly shop could hope to create adequate garments for a fallen angel such as I.”

“You made it yourself?!” Yō asked, her eyes wide. “That’s so cool! I didn’t know you could make outfits, too. You did such a good job with it! You should help me and Ruby with Aqours costumes sometime.”

The fallen angel façade slipped away, leaving behind a slightly embarrassed Yoshiko. “That’s probably not a good idea,” she said, scratching her cheek. “I only made that one outfit, and it took forever. And I kept pricking my fingers way too much. Probably best if you don’t let me anywhere near it.”

“Well even if you don’t help with the actual making part, you should totally help us design costumes sometime! You’ve got such great style, even if it does skew towards the gothic lolita look. Unless you wanted to do something else, we should check out some of the local fabric stores together.”

Yoshiko smiled. “Yeah, ok, that sounds fun. I would be more than happy to lend my expertise to one of my little demons.”

The bus finally reached their stop, and the duo exited. It was a short walk to the first store, and they spent it in a sort of comfortable silence. 

The first store was one of Yō’s favorites; a good 75% of Aqours’ stage outfits came from this place. Yō would be the first to admit the fabric quality was fairly middle of the road, but they had a huge selection in a price range that fit the club budget. She turned towards Yoshiko, who stared at all the options available.

“Let’s both take a look around and see what we find!” Yō said. “If you see something cool and have an idea, come get me, ok?”

Yoshiko simply nodded, and they both ventured into the store. Chika and Riko had shared an early draft of their latest song with the group, so at least Yō had some inspiration to work with. She always hated having to make outfits without hearing the song first, but sadly that had happened more than once thanks to how Chika could be sometimes.

The song had heavy themes of leaving somewhere familiar and exploring unknown places. Unsurprisingly, that put Yō in the mindset of boats and sailing. Maybe this time she could actually get everyone into cute sailor uniforms. She made a beeline for the area of the store that had what she needed. Ideas came to mind for each new fabric she saw, and she had trouble focusing on a single one. Truth be told, she had no idea how long she’d been in that area of the store when she felt a tug on her sleeve. Yō turned to see Yoshiko standing there, looking a little sheepish. 

“Hey, Yoshiko!” Yō said. “What’s up?”

“It’s Yohane!” she said, reflexively. “And, um, you told me to find you if I had an idea, right?”

“Of course! Did you think of something cool?”

Yoshiko nodded and led Yō over to another section of the store, one where Yō didn’t usually spend much time. It had a lot of lacey fabrics, as well as a lot of darker patterns. Yoshiko pulled out a few swatches of black lace and dark blue fabric. Yō fought back making a fallen angel or gothic lolita comment—she didn’t want to stomp on Yoshiko’s idea before even hearing it.

“So listen, I know this looks like it’ll be a fallen angel idea, but I promise that’s not it!” Yoshiko said. Hearing that made Yō _very_ glad she held back on making any comments like that. “When I heard the song demo, it gave me a really cool, futuristic vibe with all the synths. I thought we could do something cute and kinda mature with black lace skirts, then pair it with a nice dark blue top. Maybe some bright geometric patterns to really sell the futuristic look?”

Yoshiko trailed off because Yō had a thousand yard stare going on. Yō, meanwhile, was busy envisioning Yoshiko’s idea perfectly, and her mind crystalized around variations for all nine girls. Her expression broke into a blinding smile, and she pulled Yoshiko into a big hug.

“Oh Yoshiko, that’s _perfect!_ ” Yō said, doing a little hop in excitement. She broke the hug, but still kept her hands on Yoshiko’s shoulders. The other girl looked flustered beyond belief at Yō’s sudden outburst, but Yō just couldn’t contain herself. “I can see it so clearly, that’s _gotta_ be Chika’s outfit, but I can already see how to tweak it for everyone. Thank you so much, Yoshiko! I knew you’d be great at this! You’ve just gotta help me and Ruby going forward with these!”

Again, a whole range of emotions played across Yoshiko’s face in rapid succession, and once again, she finally settled on her fallen angel demeanor. 

“It is only natural that my little demons would require my assistance in carrying out my vision. I shall grant you that pleasure throughout the process.”

“Thanks, Yohane!” Yō said, still happy enough to actually play along with Yoshiko’s schtick.

“It’s Yoshiko!” she said. Then she blinked, as if realizing what had just happened. It was so cute, and Yō couldn’t help but laugh. After a moment, Yoshiko joined in.

The two spent the next hour going through various fabric swatches, discussing ideas and designs. It actually made Yō really happy to see Yoshiko opening up and being passionate about something besides her fallen angel persona. She really did have an eye for style, and getting to geek out about that together was super fun. 

Eventually, they left the store together as the sun was beginning to set. They hadn’t bought anything since they still needed to finalize designs and get Ruby up to speed, but they’d at least marked a few potential candidates. Since it was getting dark, Yō decided to walk Yoshiko home, and the other girl didn’t seem to mind. They kept talking about ideas the entire walk, and they reached Yoshiko’s apartment before they knew it.

At the entrance to the building, Yoshiko seemed reluctant to go in right away. It sort of looked like she wanted to say something, so Yō stayed quiet and gave her time. 

“Thank you. For today. I had a lot of fun, but…,” Yoshiko trailed off and looked down, and Yō furrowed her brow. She didn’t like the sound of that “but.” After a moment, Yoshiko looked back up and continued. “Why’d you do all this for me? We’ve never hung out before, and I just… don’t get why you’d be so nice to me out of nowhere.”

Yō remembered the look on Yoshiko’s face earlier that day, when she thought she’d have to third wheel with Ruby and Hanamaru. She knew that expression all too well, because it was the one she tried her hardest to hide.

She stepped closer and pulled Yoshiko into a little side hug. “Let’s just say I know all too well how it feels to be a third wheel.”

A short silence settled in as Yoshiko processed what Yō had said.

“…Oh,” Yoshiko said eventually. 

“But I did genuinely have a lot of fun with you today, Yoshiko!” Yō said, giving a little squeeze and trying to lighten the mood. “If you want to, we should do this more often. Us third wheels have to stick together, right?”

Yō smiled as she felt Yoshiko’s arm wrap around her waist and hug back. 

“Yeah, we do. Thanks. And, um… I would like to hang out more. Whenever you’re not busy, at least.”

“I can always make time for my favorite fallen angel.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my third Sunshine fic, and all three have starred Yō, and all three have had a different ship. I just think she's neat, and I ship her with practically everyone. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> I just really like the idea of the two of them bonding over being the third wheels of their respective year. On the surface, it doesn't seem like they have much in common, but I think the similarities are there once you look for them. Also, I'm pretty sure I got the basic premise from a doujin I read and just... made it SFW....
> 
> Also, they're totally designing the Fantastic Departures! outfits. I love those so much, and I couldn't not talk about them eventually.


End file.
